


The Seafaring Botanist

by fawatson



Series: ITOWverse: Jack o' Lantern [4]
Category: RENAULT Mary - Works
Genre: Gen, Halloween, ITOWverse, Metafiction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-11-20
Updated: 2011-11-20
Packaged: 2018-05-31 19:05:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 572
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6483547
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fawatson/pseuds/fawatson
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Ralph's ship docks in Bridstow, Sandy lends him the latest edition of <i>The Renault Times</i>.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Seafaring Botanist

This time it was Sandy who found _The Renault Times_ waiting on his return.  He hadn’t been supposed to be working at all this weekend.  But a colleague had called in sick (he did that a lot—every Saturday night, in fact—which had not gone unnoticed); and someone else had been given emergency leave because his younger brother had just been killed in action and his mother had collapsed when she heard the news; so Sandy had found himself working back-to-back shifts that weekend despite having already been on all week.  The doctor’s sleeping-in room seemed more like home than the flat, which was distinctly chilly.  Alec had been equally busy.   _His_ year had been hard-hit with a nasty bug that was going round.

On auto-pilot, Sandy filled the kettle and put it on the gas ring to boil before rinsing the teapot, and digging out the last of the tea from the back of the cupboard.  The fridge held the sorry remains of a pint of milk, now curdled and sour.  His nose wrinkled in disgust at the smell as he dumped it down the sink and rinsed the bottle.  (So much for not wasting food.) 

He was just sitting down, when the knock came. 

“Oh—you,” Sandy said, on opening the door. 

“Yes—me,” replied Ralph. “Look, if it’s not convenient....”

“No, you’d best come in.  Alec isn’t here right now, though.  Did he know you were coming?” 

“Not really.  My ship took too heavy damage to chance making home port so we docked here—”

“And with Laurie off in Oxford, you need a place to kip—I know,” finished Sandy. 

He’d opened the door wide as they’d been talking, allowing Ralph inside, and led the way to the kitchen, where, automatically, he fished in the cupboard for another mug. 

“Here,” Ralph thrust a package at his host, “my contribution.” 

Sandy’s eyes opened wide as he unpacked the unexpected largesse.   _Three_ tins of corned beef, a tin of treacle, and a full pound of brazil nuts.  He hadn’t seen those since before the war.  No prizes for guessing which port Ralph had last made. 

“Sweetie, you are _pure_ gold!” he responded, reflexively unable to miss the opportunity to goad Ralph, even while he gratefully received the food.  He knew just what Ralph thought of him, and didn’t mind playing up to the man’s prejudices.  But instead of filling Ralph’s mug with tea, he rummaged in the cupboard under the sink. 

“Peculiar place for the rum,” commented Ralph, as the last of the bottle was poured for him. 

“Our landlady drinks,” confided Sandy, “and, until we hid the booze amongst the bleach, she wasn’t above letting herself in when we weren’t here.  She doesn’t bother us anymore.  I’ll just go make up a bed for you. Here—” he handed Ralph the newspaper “—something to read.  I don’t suppose you’ve had much chance to catch up with what’s been happening while you’ve been at sea.”

The front page showcased a colour picture of Lysis and Hippolyta riding neck-for-neck chasing a pumpkin.  Ralph recognised it immediately from his days on the cross-Atlantic routes before the war.  He was not quite sure what pumpkins had to do with Ancient Greece, though.  Had they _had_ pumpkins back during the Peloponnesian Wars?  (He rather thought not.)  The photo took the full spread of the page.  This should be interesting, he thought, and opened the newspaper.

**Author's Note:**

> This story was originally posted to the [maryrenaultfics](http://maryrenaultfics.livejournal.com) LiveJournal community.


End file.
